Freezing the foot...?

[Casey 145]

I don't remember who it was, but I remember hearing stories of someone having to get shots in the groin to freeze it during the playoffs one year, and his teammates having to cover their ears to block out his screams.

That's dedication.

If they were cortisone shots, I very much sympathize. At least back in the mid-90s (and the early 60s when my dad blew both knees playing football), the needle was the size of a ballpoint pen refill. Hurts something fierce.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

One of the most famous cases in the SCF: Bobby Baun, from Legends of Hockey.

Baun's career-making night was the sixth game of the 1964 Stanley Cup final, with Baun playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs against Detroit. Baun describes what happened halfway through the third period with the score tied 3-3 at the Detroit Olympia: "I got hit in the foot by a shot by Gordie Howe, so they took me to the Olympia infirmary. The guys who looked at it didn't think I could hurt it any more than I already had, so they froze it and I went back to play the game," recalls Baun, who had to be taken from the ice on a stretcher. "I knew it was broken; I didn't need any X-rays to tell me that. But I didn't want to miss the overtime. I told the trainer he had to do everything possible to get me out there. He gave me a shot of painkiller, which numbed the ankle, and taped it tight. Then I laced up my skate and went back to the bench."

His foot did turn out to be broken?Baun later jokingly called it "the best break I ever had"?but that didn't stop him. And for the Leafs, it was a good thing the stalwart defenseman decided to rejoin the action in game six. Just two minutes into the overtime, Baun made himself a hockey legend. He took a pass from Bob Pulford near the blue line. His shot deflected off the skate of Detroit's Bill Gadsby, past Terry Sawchuk and into the net.

[hillbillywingsfan 792]

Not a medical doc exclaimer.

Pretty sure Cortisone can take care of the temporary injuries that require reduction in swelling as well as a pain killer.

You are correct. Both long- and short-term are available. My mother gets them in her knee.

I've also heard of players getting both cortisone and novocaine. I'd forgotten about cortisone.

Good input

thats true with the cortisone....but doesn't it hurt after you get those shots like several hours? my dad gets them in his knees and hes out of commision for atleas 3 hours.

[55fan 5,133]

thats true with the cortisone....but doesn't it hurt after you get those shots like several hours? my dad gets them in his knees and hes out of commision for atleas 3 hours.

Yep, from what I understand, they hurt like a sonofagun.

My 68-year-old mother usually spends the rest of the day lying down.

I also remember Cheli missing a game because they numbed the wrong leg and he couldn't skate.

[Icesurfer 75]

I've heard of prolotherapy; isn't it used quite often in Europe?

BINGO! I am thinking Z might have had some treatments on his wrist in Sweden instead of taking another cortisone shot... which was NOT recommended by some smart doc.

[Casey 145]

Yep, from what I understand, they hurt like a sonofagun.

My 68-year-old mother usually spends the rest of the day lying down.

I also remember Cheli missing a game because they numbed the wrong leg and he couldn't skate.

She's not embellishing. I got my last cortisone shot in my shoulder when I was boxing in high school, and that thing hurt for about 2 hours afterward.

[Jake Ryan 1]

I have to get those shots regularly in my biceps because I'm so ripped. They freeze my guns so I don't hurt anyone.

[maltbymaniac 13]

well now my foot and groin hurt from reading all these posts.OUCH! lol

[pasha power 0]

they had to freeze jakes HHO

[Aeothe Kaear 0]

I also remember Cheli missing a game because they numbed the wrong leg and he couldn't skate.

When was that?

[rwfan007 18]

No one has to worry about Pav's foot. My boss is an ex-NHL player and he is good friends with Griffins assistant coach Jim Paek. They were talking the other day, and Paek said that Pav's foot is not the problem. I won't go into further detail now, but I am sure that you will find out what really happened after the series is over. But it is not anything to do with his foot, that I am sure of.

[mjlegend 155]

Gilchrest did that, IIRC.

F**king hell. Good story, but I'm wincing reading this...

http://detnews.com/article/20090415/SPORTS...in+NHL+playoffs

Crossing the 'fine line'

Gilchrist, Yzerman's linemate, went to the extreme -- all for the opportunity to play on his first Cup champion team.

Shortly after pregame warm-ups during those playoff games 11 years ago, Gilchrist headed to the trainer's room for "the shot heard 'round the dressing room."

"It was the tendon where it attaches to the pubic bone," Gilchrist explained.

"Pretty much as private a part as you can get," Wharton said.

Wharton would hold one of Gilchrist's hands. Piet Van Zant, now the Wings trainer, held the other. Gilchrist bit down on a towel. David Collon, the team physician, gave the shot.

"We literally could hear him screaming," Yzerman said. "It was awful."

"I walked away," Holmstrom said. "I didn't want to hear."

Gilchrist played in 15 of the team's 22 playoff games that season, but missed the four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Finals.

By then, the tendon had torn away from the bone and there was nothing doctors could do.

"Now that I've retired, I hate pain," said Gilchrist, who lives near Vancouver. "I hate even thinking about things we went through as players. I look back on it now and it was just what you did. I don't remember the pain being bad enough that I didn't want to do it.

"I guess there's a fine line. When you're hurt, I think you can play. And when you're injured, you can't."

Gilchrist paused before adding, "In the playoffs, that line is sometimes distorted. Guys are playing injured."

And for hockey players, the real pain is in never winning the Stanley Cup.

[Jake Ryan 1]

F**king hell. Good story, but I'm wincing reading this...

http://detnews.com/article/20090415/SPORTS...in+NHL+playoffs

Gilchrist / ???

[truebladearmy 33]

Note: I'm not a doctor, but I am an army medic.

Freezing generally means Cryosurgery.

RICE is the standard protocol for helping an injury recover. But that's an ongoing process. Athletes are known for dunking an injury in ice prior to a game to provide rapid relief of swelling and numb some of the inflamation.

Cryosurgery, however, is a minor surgical procedure. It is more common in freezing moles, warts, or internally against things like liver cancer.

For a foot, it's a minor invasive procedure where the foot is numbed, and a probe is inserted to freeze the local nerves, thus not limiting any strength or muscular function in the foot, but allowing the player to play either mostly, or completely pain free. It must be done far enough in advance for the anesthetic to wear off, because the objective isn't to have a "numb" foot on the ice, but instead to have a foot that works fine, but is free of pain.

Note: Freezing is not just applying novacaine (Or more likely lidocaine or Xylocaine for the particular location). Like I said I'm not actually a doctor, nor am I one of the Wings surgeons, so I'm not 100% positive this is what they did, but it seems most likely. You wouldn't want to apply a local anesthetic before a game because it numbs the nerves, but the muscles as well, and even trying to walk with one toe numbed up proves to be strangely difficult. Cryosurgery only freezes the "nerve of impact" thus freezing the nerve that is most affected by the injury, but allowing everything else to retain sensation.

Cryosurgery can be fairly long lasting. Usually its used to relieve chronic pain, and the effects of one freezing can last from days to months, depending on the nerve affected. The reason they probably did it just before the game is because it's not always wise to freeze out pain in a recent injury. Your body "hurts" to tell you not to do something. So, if you still have a freshly healed bone, but can't feel any pain, you might do things on it that could further damage it, and feel no pain to warn you that you're doing something wrong.

That's the theory of pain medication in general. The physician I work for refuses to give people in muscle or bone pain "good" pain killers. It's not because he doesn't want them to feel better. It's because if he completely numbs away their pain, they're more likely to do more than they should, and further abuse the injured location. In short, just a little medical lesson to go with this explanation: Pain exists to tell you that something is wrong.

Patient: It hurts when I lift my arm! What do I do?!

Doctor: Well... don't lift your arm.

Hope this clears up the confusion. I meant to reply earlier, but I guess I got sidetracked.

Edited June 9, 2009 by truebladearmy